UAW leaders approve richer Fiat Chrysler contract

Local United Auto Workers leaders have approved a new proposed contract with Fiat Chrysler.

Friday's vote came just over a week after UAW members voted down a previous agreement. The UAW and FCA hammered out a new contract, averting a threatened strike.

The new agreement promises to gradually eliminate a tiered pay system and bring all U.S. factory workers to the same pay level over eight years. The previous agreement promised to raise the wages of newer, lower-tiered employees to $25 per hour, which was still lower than the pay for longtime workers.

It also promises the first raise in nine years for the highest-paid workers.

Union members will now vote on the new agreement, which covers around 40,000 workers at 23 U.S. plants.